The Facebook status update that cost a man $80,000

Social media is great, but it does encourage people to run their mouths about all kinds of things they should not. Sometimes there are consequences. Facebook status updates and Twitter posts have gotten people fired before, and now a teen named Dana Snay might have cost her father $80,000 thanks to a Facebook status update.

Patrick Snay, her father, had sued the school he was working at for age discrimination. He won $10,000 in back wages as well as an $80,000 settlement. The problem is that part of the agreement of the settlement was that Patrick Snay was not allowed to talk about it, which is common with certain settlement agreements. Technically you can argue that he couldn’t even tell his family, but he decided to tell them anyway, claiming that the school’s alleged retaliation against his lawsuit was done through his daughter, leaving her with “psychological scars”.

Well, here is where the story takes a turn. After learning about her father’s win, Dana Snay took to Facebook and wrote, “Mama and Papa Snay won the case against Gulliver. Gulliver is now officially paying for my vacation to Europe this summer. SUCK IT.” Yeah, she is none too bright and obviously way to chatty.

Of course, word got out about the update and the school quickly learned about it. Since this was a violation of the agreement, they did not have to pay him the $80,000 settlement. The appeals court said, “Snay violated the agreement by doing exactly what he had promised not to do. His daughter then did precisely what the confidentiality agreement was designed to prevent.”

I somehow don’t see Dana going to Europe this summer. Do you? In fact, she may just have it tough around that house for quite a while.